Does anyone else feel alone?

Being a conservative atheist is a case of being a double minority; it kind of puts one on the wrong side of pretty much everything.

I've found it difficult to find anyplace where I fit in; obviously churches are out, as are virtually any groups among the artsy crowd (tough, because I'm an artist) and most social groups. The closest thing I've found is the local Republican supporters, most of whom are wonderful people, though I do have to remember to watch my step there and not disparage religion lest I get the cold shoulder.

I find myself wishing for the days before the political parties reached out to the fringe movements on either side in an effort to curry favor and get votes. (The Democrats embraced radical racial and other minority groups, and the Republicans did the same with religious zealots.)

Being single, it also makes dating hell. The liberal women don't want anything to do with me, and the few conservatives I can find are usually repelled by my lack of religion.

Quite honestly, I find conservative religious people easier to take than liberal atheists. The conservatives, while they may disagree about religion, are at least nice about it & behave responsibly, whereas most of the liberals are just mean assholes who are downright abusive to anyone who doesn't share their views.

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Tonya, i gotta remind you here that an agnostic atheist is as much an atheist as you and i. So don't force your particular brand on anyone, and try to undermine their atheism. This is the same problem between weak and strong atheists, none is more atheist than the other as what unites us foremost is the ability to just BE despite what is or isn't. If we start to be divisive and split hairs, we end up being no better than the religious we abhor.

I've gotten that same sort of reaction. I attended a meeting at a local atheist society. When I mentioned that I considered myself a political conservative, most people reacted as though I had a communicable disease, actually pulling away from me slightly.

One fellow was insolent enough to declare that it is impossible to separate politics and religion, and that anyone claimed to be both an atheist and a conservative was lying. I responded by saying that maybe HE found it impossible, but that others were not bound by his limitations.

And I agree, many so-called left-wing "atheists" are indeed atheistic in name only. They are just as religious about other things as many right-wingers are about God.

I've about come to the conclusion that a large segment of the human race are, to an extent, crazy. The exact subject of the craziness may vary, but the behavior derived from it is rather uniform.

I find it interesting how much situations vary depending on geography. I live in one of the most liberal areas of the country, and consequently, someone who qualifies as a "conservative" here would probably be labeled as a "liberal" in many parts of, say, the deep South.

By contrast, many of the liberal set here are so far to the left that they are regarded as nut cases even by the liberals in other parts of the country.

I'm new to the site and I would have to agree with the reactions that I receive. Most liberal atheists come across as militant, and its hard to find a conservative atheist. I find the best way to find like minds is to join a Objectivist group which are mostly libertarian atheists.

Over the past 15 years or so, I have been very disappointed and dismayed by the behavior and opinions of most atheists with whom I have debated. There have been exceptions in each group, yet they often only revealed their true opinions about a discussion to me in a private message. Those who do not fit in with the "no guns, free abortions anytime, drive an electric car, end the military, down with the republicans, do what you want and show total disrespect for any believer's faith" ....tend to be shouted down, shunned as trolls, belittled for any show of honor or booted off the site, while being called a...gasp....agnostic.

To be honest, I do not announce myself as an atheist to everyone I meet in real life, but will say so if I am asked...so I don't get treated as anybody but who I appear to be; a parent, a concerned citizen, a fellow patriot, a nice lady. I listen to any prayer, appreciating what is being said, but do not pretend to pray. I simply leave out the "under God" part of the pledge and I honestly can tell people that I understand that faith is a large part of what formed this country.

I do find that the theists online who know me and have always known my lack of belief consider me to be a friend and an honorable person and will defend me to those who come to a debate with preconceived notions about atheists. I have a strong feeling that theist conservatives, such as, my local Tea Party members would accept me as I am...but probably pray for me. Not so...the very liberal dems who are secular, were I to discuss my conservative feelings. In fact, I have been shouted at in public a couple of times by people I have known for all my adult life over my stance on Obama and Glenn Beck.

This is my first post. I've always felt like an outsider. Maybe that's how I developed a conservative atheist mindset. Although, in truth, my conservatism is limited to the social arena, and even there, I'm not pro-natalist. I don't vote, though probably my favorite two American politicians of all time are Tom Kean and Theodore Roosevelt.

I don't understand leftist atheists. They don't need the crutch of religion or a sugar daddy in the sky to take care of them. But instead they want the welfare state to be everyone's crutch and sugar daddy to be government.

It seems like most people are either born or raised with a mindset that they need a security blanket and they never outgrow this. They are emotionally a little child still afraid to face the scary world without some all powerful entity(god or government) to care for them. Theists and leftists never outgrow this infantile mindset of needing an all powerful entity to love them and care for them. They are also terrified of their own mortality, theists try to deny it by believing in heaven, leftists think the government can prevent it.

The way I see it, us conservative/libertarian atheists are like the adults in room. The room(the world) has a lot of kids and very few adults, that is why it has so many problems that never get solved. The kids are running the show.